AusBonsai

hey people,

i got this banksia today, i havent taken a pic of the whole tree as it is still quite young with only a one inch trunk although it is already showing signs of the mature rolling of the trunk which may help in the ID so here are the leaves, they are about on average 80mm-100mm approx. long x 30mm-400mm approx across at the widest point, the leaves are serrated but not overly pronounced. they are quite a stiff leaf to with a sort of rough texture.
i was hoping to put this into a growing box straight away but on inspection of the roots i found some rather horrifying things, it looked like either a root rot fungi or wooly aphid, so it had to be practically bare rooted and repotted which was put into a free draining mix of two parts diatomite by one part bonsai soil and then watered in with seasol and super thrive, hopefully it will bounce back strong and be back where i want it shortly.
i also had to remove some damaged leaves that at first looked like a nutrient deficiency prob but it corresponds with root rot fungi/aphid problem.

cheers guys

jamie

Its a Banksia integrifolia again.

What you are seeing is a slightly juvenile form of the adult leaf. It is also normal for older leaves to yellow and drop off so it may not indicate anything as long as the new growth is healthy looking. In the post by CraigW he was worried because the new growth looked off color; yours doesn't.

Also the root system on Banksia can have a Proteoid root which looks like a fungus or mychorizae. There is no indication of disease or deficiency on the leaves you have shown us.

You have done the right thing to pot it on, and you can remove the proteoid roots with out any damage. Then in a little while you can start a fertilizing regime and off you go.

Banksia is still a misunderstood plant but is being used widely now.

Grant

thanks grant that helps a lot i was a little worried about these things, the older leaves down low were yellowing off which i thought were a deficiency or disease/pest, you have put me at ease a now and i can let it get on with things with out giving the tree bad karma by thinking it is going to die
the other thing i was going to say is that yes the new growth looks quite strong and healthy so we should be good to go


jamie

heres a pic of the trunk at the worst possible angle, the part of the trunk i will be using anyways, i only just noticed it was the worst possible angle as it doesnt show the actual movement of the trunk at all it shows the trunk straight as a ramrod! bugger, anyways i took the pic for the aging of the trunk, i am quite amazed it is starting to show the rolled look banksia gets.
i am going to be growing it out, chopping back to get sacrifice branches eventually and grow the hell out of the trunk.

i will get another pic shortly
jamie

edit, the movement actually goes backward away from this veiw then back towards the camera, it has a nice subtle movement. it wont matter in 12-24 months anyways

bout time u got off the figs Jamie. lol

strawbs wrote:bout time u got off the figs Jamie. lol

oh mate if only, i just havent posted all the new ones yet as i thought you might be getting sick of them

Sorry for busting in Jamie Hi Guys has anyone experienced Banksias karking it ? I had 3 in 250mm pots letting them grow a bit. One was an ericifoloia, one a spinulosa and the other a marginata. They were in half potting mix and half river sand. We have had a lot of rain here in Brissy since Christmas - is too much water a possible cause. They died pretty quickly - they looked fine but within a week they were all brown. Any ideas ?

Tony

it does sound like root rot to me mate, it takes only 7-10 days to have the fungi take over the whole root system and it can be fatal.


jamie

That's what I thought - I didn't have any trouble with any other plants in ordinary pots or bonsia pots - are banksias really susceptible to it ?

not sure, only had one for about three hours now

grant wrote an article on them, you should be able to find it pretty easy i did, just do a search on banksia.


jamie

Hi All
Sounds like root rot. It could be cinnamon fungus. Deadly to the banksia family. Wet conditions really favour the fungus, so your weather might have been all that was necessary to give the fungus the upper hand, so to speak. The fungus occurs widely in Australia and may lie dormant, or not troublesome for some time. Then when conditions are right, off it goes and so do the susceptible plants.

You can try certain fungicides. Talk to your nursery to see if they have any. Others on this forum may have the names, I just can't remember them off hand.
Kunzea

Hi all,

Yes sounds like root rot to me. Treat with Fongarid.

Most of the banksia mentioned (except integrifolia, the coastal banksia) come from drier parts of the country with lower overnight temperatures. You have heat and humidity. I have seen ericifolia in the snow in the Blue Mountains, and the best Marginata over the great Dividing Range around Albury NSW.

They should grow OK in WA because it is hot but not as humid.

I think you are at the extreme limits of their range and may experience problems because of it.

Cedars for instance mostly dont like where you live.

Figs dont like Canberra and we handle them in a different way.

Larch should grow OK in Canberra but this year a number of people have lost them, possibly due to average hotter overnight temperatures than they can stand. They love the cold and we may not be cold enough.

We should start a thread about plants being grown at the extreme of their natural range or totally out of it.

Grant

Hey Jamie if your cutting it back hard chuck the cuttings in some propogation mix with some rooting hormone. I took these cuttings at the end of december and they are slowly thowing new buds out...

Hi Grant thank you for a very informative reply. What about banksia seratta ? I had a starter in a training pot a while ago and it did the same thing. You are correct about the integrifolia - we have a couple growing in our garden really well. Jamie sent me link to the atricle you wrote and it was great. I love this site !


Tony

Bougy Fan wrote:Hi Grant thank you for a very informative reply. What about banksia seratta ? I had a starter in a training pot a while ago and it did the same thing. You are correct about the integrifolia - we have a couple growing in our garden really well. Jamie sent me link to the atricle you wrote and it was great. I love this site !


Tony

Try Banksia aemula, the Wallum banksia. It grows in swamps along the coast all the way up to Maroochydoore and used to be called Serratfolia as the foliage looks the same. A few minor differences but suited to your climate.

There are other coastal banksias you could try as well, plus some equvalents to integrifolia up your way. I would have to consult my books,

Grant